Once perceived as an exotic delicacy – bought only as a luxury gift or an extravagant treat – the Chinese consumers’ taste for chocolate is growing and the ingredient is quickly cementing a niche for itself in bakery.

Calbee has entered China’s brick-and-mortar retailers with its fruit cereal brand Frugra, as the company’s CEO Akira Matsumoto hopes the country will contribute one-third of Calbee’s international sales by 2020.

China’s diverse bakery industry – encompassing bakers of traditional ‘pinyin’ (literally translated as ‘Chinese style cakes and snacks’) and producers of modern items like croissants and waffles – is growing at a rate that far exceeds most other segments.